Before the Outbreak
by VioletFauxpa
Summary: They had a life before Umbrella and their army of zombies invaded it. Maybe some people were just never meant to live normally. Kevin's chapter now up.
1. George

This fanfic is about the life of the characters from RE Outbreak before the outbreak, and leading up to it. I picked George first to get him outta the way, but you guys can say who you want me to do next. Hope I did good. -

Italics mean the character's inner thoughts. I own nothing so don't sue...

George

_What was it about today? What was it about everyday before that? Why can't I just be happy with my life? _

George Hamilton was always asking himself that, day after day. It had been a few years since he moved from New York, a few years too many. He had a job offer in some city out of state that doubled his yearly income, but in return, he would have to move. It's not that leaving his home was any huge ordeal, he was in fact bored of the same white walls that had already been enclosing him for years, at his house and the hospital, both were too stuffy and he needed out, but the one thing that he was regretting having to leave behind was his wife, or ex-wife, she should be called.

Heather DeMonde was her name, past wife and utter thorn in George's ass since the two married. She died two years ago, in his hospital, during an operation, an operation that George himself was managing. She was in an accident, she had fallen down a flight of stairs in their home and had minor injuries, but under further examination of her body after her fall, George found a tumor next to her liver. He ordered an immediate operation to remove the tumor before it spread, but during the procedure, her drugs wore off. She woke up, and could feel it, the knives cutting through her, hands around her organs, the immense heat from the lights overhead. She couldn't take it.

George remembered at that moment, seeing his wife get up and then seeing her organs sprawl over her body, over the table, and then as her screams of panic and pain grew louder, he could hear her vital signs go through the roof. She died that day, and George paid for her funeral a week later. He didn't miss her, not in the least, but he did feel guilt for mistakenly taking her life. Though she was a parasite that tried to suck him of everything he was worth, nobody, even her, deserved to die that way, to die with such fear and agony. He could only imagine what it must have been like...

"Dr. Hamilton to the third floor, Dr. Hamilton to the third floor, room 302." A nurse called over the intercom, pulling him out of his daydreaming state.

_No time to worry over past events, I have a new life in Raccoon City, Heather, and everything else is nothing more than a bad nightmare._

As George pulled himself from the chair in the doctor's break room he pushed the memories back into the deep recessesof his mind so they could haunt him as he sleeps. As he walked to the elevator on the first floor, he still couldn't help but feel the need to leave, leave what he wasn't sure, but something was telling him that the hospital was the last place he needed to be.

As he stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor, a nurse called for him to hold it. As she ran to catch it, George threw his hand out to stop the doors before they closed. The doors bounced off of George's arm and allowed the nurse to come in.

"Thanks, Dr. Hamilton." The nurse said as she fiddled with a bag of a clear liquid and a chart for a patient that went along with it.

"Floor?" George politely said as she looked up at him.

"Third, please." She said as she brushed loose hair back with her free hand.

"Well, is it just me, or are there a few more patients than usual, nurse." George said, resting on the wall of the elevator.

"I was just thinking the same thing, all kinda like flu cases, but different. O, and you can call me Elena, Dr." The young nurse said as she scribbled down a few words on the chart, trying to save time.

As George looked at the blonde girl of about 25, he could see that she was rather attractive. He begun reading the words that she was writing down, when the elevator stopped and the power went out, but for only a second. The two stared at each other glad that they weren't going to be stuck in the elevator while they had patients to get to. No more than five seconds later they reacher their floor and walked out together, splitting up as the walked down the hall.

George walked into room 302 with a sigh, before attempting to see what the problem was. A quick look around showed that wasn't too serious, just the patient, a middle-aged man, and another nurse. He walked over to the nurse as she handed him the man's chart, both doing so without saying a word. George looked at her name tag, Kathy.

"Well, is there any real reason I was called up here, nurse?" George said, with a hint of irritation in his voice at not finding anything of real importance in the chart.

"He came in with sudden fainting attacks, but as time went on his temperature a readily increased, he has a fever, I just needed your advice as to how you'd like me to handle this." The brown-haired nurse asked.

"Let's see, how about you give him some antibiotics in case it is because of an infection, and other than that, you'll have to decide on your own, but thanks for consulting me before doing anything." George said, his mood lifting.

He handed Kathy back the man's chart and look at his watch, seeing it was half-past ten, his shift was over 15 minutes ago. George quickly moved to the locker room and grabbed his coat out of his locker, then said his goodbyes to the others that were in the room with him as he clocked out. George didn't need any encouragement when it came to getting off work, he'd do anything to get away from the smell of sickness and sounds of people moaning in pain from their ailments.

George walked down the dark, city sidewalks, headed towards his apartment building not five blocks away from the hospital. He felt better, now that he was out of the hospital for the night. He closed his eyes as a cool breeze flew over his face, taking with it his troubles, but leaving behind something much worse than the typical boredom of an over-worked doctor. After it stopped blowing over him, he felt his heart ache, beat hard, almost forcefully trying to keep itself pumping blood. George raised a hand to his chest as he puzzled over his sudden anguish, but just as quickly as it had come on, it was all over. George stood still for a second more, but then started to walk again as he shook off his confusion.

Halfway to his apartment building was a bar that he passed every night, but had never gone in once before. He walked past the front entrance, but stopped in front of the huge window that showed the entire bar. George did enjoy to drink, but he only liked fine wines, he never had much of a taste for normal, draft beers, but something was pulling him inside, wanting him to take a seat at the bar and at least order a glass of water. He gave in to his inner self and made his way into J's bar.

"Hey, can I get you a drink, sir" A man from behind the counter said upon George's entering.

"Could I have a glass of water?" George said, embarrassed at his drink choice.

"Coming right up." The bartender said as he fished a glass out an overhead compartment.

_Why did I have to come here? This is the last place I need to be after getting off of work. _

George let it go as his water was placed in front of him. The bartender asked if he wanted anything to eat. He was famished, so decided to go along with the man's request to fix him a meal. As the man turned around again to go over to the stove to fix a burger, a blonde woman came from a door from behind him, greeting him as she did so. He nodded to her and for a second marveled at her beauty. True, he had been alone for some time now, and he never really looked for anyone, but this woman was different, she not only caught his eye, but he could feel things build up inside of himself. He could feel several emotions all at once, and not all of them were good, as he payed his feelings more mind, he could sense an ever growing element of darkness and despair around her, but then it wasn't only her, but the entire bar, including himself. He no idea of the things to come, that he would once again be forced to leave another life behind, that he'd have to cope with more guilt than he had ever imagined possible. Yes, his hell had not even begun...

End of chapter...

Yeah, I really wanted to make a RE fanfic, so this is my second attempt. Did I do good? Please review, and tell me which character you'd all like me to do next either Kevin, Mark, David, Cindy, Alyssa, Jim, or Yoko, or else I'll have to decide. Please, please review, I beg on both knees. Thanks for reading.


	2. Cindy

Well, since I only got one review for the last chapter and that person picked Cindy or Alyssa, I'll go with Cindy. Hopefully I'll get at least two reviews with this chapter. ;

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Cindy

_There's something about this bar, something I simply can't put my finger on, but whatever it is, I don't like it, not one bit..._

Cindy Lennox could never get over the feeling that she was being watched. Wherever she'd go inside that building, she'd feel the icy cold glance of something that was never there, especially in the bar's wine storage room. She would occasionally have to go up there to fetch a wine bottle that some midnight prowler would demand so that he could drunken up his recent catch from the streets, and every time, like clockwork, she'd sense it, those eyes drilling through the back of her skull, but that would disappear when she'd turn around. She never stayed up there any longer than she had to.

One night she was closing up at around four in the morning when Will, the bartender she worked with each night, called her up to see if she had the key to the wine room. They'd have to lock the door each night incase of a robbery, wine wasn't cheap, and the owner didn't want to have to restock the whole wine selection if they were stolen. Cindy was forced to go up the stairs to the third floor to lock the door. She thought it silly to be afraid of something that wasn't there, but she couldn't help it, that feeling would chill her to her bones.

As she put the key inside the hole she heard something from behind the door, like heavy breathing and then she heard a bottle crash on the floor somewhere else in the room. She opened the door though her intuition was screaming for her to leave. Making sure that the key was held between her fingers incase of an attack, she pushed the door open all the way and made her way into the storage room. The door to her direct right was closed and already locked so whatever made the noise couldn't be in there, but to her left was nothing but open air, and the rest of the storage room that continued around a corner going left.

She took a deep breath and moved farther into the room, getting past the corner. As she looked down the corridor she saw the bottle that she heard shatter earlier. She walked up to it and bent over to see the label. "Nothing expensive," Cindy said as she lightened up. "Perhaps it wasn't pushed in all the way on the rack?" She wondered for a second, but then let it go as she got a broom from out of the corner and began to clean up the shards of glass and spilled liquor.

Cindy didn't think about anything as she swept the mess up into a neat pile to pick up on another night, but as she put the broom back into the corner she heard the heavy breathing again, behind her. She froze, too afraid to move as she realized someone was not five feet away from her. Maybe if she ran she could catch Will before he left the break room. Cindy made a mad dash towards the door going downstairs, and when she looked back she saw nothing, but heard a scream, loud and almost deafening. A woman's scream that made Cindy scream as well. She shut the door behind her and ran down the stairs, deciding to lock the door to the stairs rather than the door she was supposed to.

Will wasn't there, he had already left, and Cindy didn't wait to catch her breath before she went into the locker room and grabbed her things out of her locker so she could leave for the morning. She was the last to leave that morning, and as she locked the front door to the bar, she could swear she still heard the woman's screaming from the third floor. She hurried down the street to her car.

Cindy could never forget about that night, and even though she told Will and Jack, the owner of the bar, they just called her crazy. She wasn't crazy, she knew that scream, she had heard it from somewhere else. Though she had lived in Raccoon City for her entire life, she never stayed in one house for more than two years. Her parents never liked to stay in one place, it was as if they were afraid of something. Cindy would ask her mother why they'd have to move all the time, but she would never tell her, she'd always get out of it by telling Cindy that they'd explain everything when she was older.

When Cindy was about sixteen years old, she had just recently moved into another house with her mother after her father passed away. Her mother still never told her why they were always moving until one night when she heard her mother crying in her room.

"Mom? What's the matter, mommy?" Cindy said as she rushed into her mother's room upon seeing her crying through a crack in the door.

"Cindy, I'm so sorry for dragging you around for all those years." Her mother said, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's just that... Don't you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"Don't you feel those eyes?" her mother said as she slightly tugged at Cindy's arms.

"Eyes?" Cindy uttered, fearing the worst for her mother's mental health.

"Those damned eyes. That's why we've been moving all the time, we've been running from those eyes." Cindy's mother nearly screamed as she stood up and looked over the room. "But no matter where we go, they find us, and now they've killed your father."

"But... Dad died of a heart attack." Cindy said, trying to calm her mother down.

"Yes, he did, but what do you think caused it? He was perfectly healthy, a heart attack is the last thing he should have died from." The nearly hysterical woman blurted out as she moved over to her dresser. "No, those cursed eyes are what did it!"

"Eyes? Mom, what eyes?" Cindy said, growing scared because of her mother's heated rants of pure, limitless terror.

"I don't know, I've never seen them, but God knows I feel them. Every night they stare at me. They are always behind me." The middle-aged woman said as she was going through the top drawer of the dresser. "I won't let them get me!"

"Mom, you should get some sleep"

"They are not going to get me, I'd rather die by my own hand then let them take me." The now deranged woman said as she pulled something out from beneath her clothes inside the drawer. "I only hope you never have to feel them, I only hope that those eyes will close once I'm gone!"

"Don't talk like that! Just, get some rest, I'll stay with you, I promise!" Cindy pleaded with her mother as tears of her own began to run down her face.

"Cindy, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me." Cindy's mother spoke in a softer tone now as her back was still turned. "Promise me something."

"What? Anything!" Cindy said, calming down.

"That you'll forgive me." The woman said as she turned around, revealing the darkest metal Cindy had ever seen.

"No!" Cindy screamed out, running at her mother.

"Those damned eyes." Cindy's mother uttered as she lifted the gun up to her head, and with a final glass-shattering scream, she pulled the trigger and fell to the ground, with her eyes still open, eyes that burned themselves into Cindy's memory.

Cindy was put in a foster home a week later. So soon she went from 'The Little Lennox Girl', to the 'Poor Orphan Girl.' Cindy never let her measureless grief and sorrow get the better of her, she would always wear a smile and whenever someone asked about her parents, she'd look up to the sky and smile, and she'd simply say, "They are in Heaven."

"Now it would seem those eyes follow me too, mother" Cindy said as she sat alone in the break room of J's bar. "But don't worry, I won't let them win." Cindy proudly spoke out as she passed the locked door that led up the stairs that went to the wine storage room, stopping to look at it. "After all, those eyes that haunt me are your own, mother." Cindy made her way down to the bar when she heard the scream again, the scream of her mother as she pulled the trigger, the scream that waited in the third floor wine storage room for her to come back up there, the scream that together with the eyes, let Cindy know that mommy was still watching.

End of Chapter.

Well, I'm very proud of this chapter. Next to Yoko, Cindy is my favorite character out of Outbreak, so I tried to make it good, just for her. Please review, please! And also tell me who you want to read about next, I'm ready for anyone. :)


	3. Alyssa

Thanks all for the reviews, I got a couple more this time, I so happy. Anyway, I was about to do the Kevin chapter, but the 4th review wanted Alyssa, so she won the overall vote. I'll do Kevin next if everyone wants. O, and before you read, this isn't a very happy chapter, it has, well... I don't want to give it away, but this one is only PG-13 because I didn't put in any big swear words that would make it R rated. Enjoy.

Story time...

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Alyssa 

_I used to think there was no scoop that I couldn't handle. If only childish arrogance like that could stay forever..._

Alyssa Ashcroft was always the first on the scene, wether it be a robbery or the Mayor's cat stuck up in a tree, she was the first on the site, the first to bring it to the public. That day was no different, she got a call from a trustful source that a body had been found in an alleyway next to the five-star hotel, 'The Apple Inn.'

Like she always would be, she was the first reporter on the scene, and found out that before the woman was murdered, she was raped, beaten, and possibly tortured. After two more women and one man were found dead in the exact same condition as the first victim, Alyssa got her biggest break yet, she was the first and only reporter to give the best information and quickest updates on 'The Bi-sexual Serial Rapist,' a name she herself thought of.

"No one knows who the man responsible for the rapes are at this time," Alyssa announced into the camera at the most recent attack site. "He is still on the loose and police are doing everything they can to apprehend the culprit, but until then all are asked to stay inside and lock all windows and doors after dark."

"And... out!" Said Karl, Alyssa's camera man.

"I tell ya, Karl... I know this is big and is the kinda thing I've waiting for, but this guy needs to be caught." Alyssa said as she looked behind her at the bushes that had been taped off inside of Raccoon's City Park.

"I know what you mean, I'm tired of rushing out every night just to get to this guy's new hit." Karl said as he put his camera in the back of the news van.

"Not only that, but it gives us women a bad name. Not to mention, I fell bad for those poor girls." Alyssa mentioned upon seeing the woman bagged up and packed into a van to be taken to a morgue.

"Gives women a bad name? The creep even raped a guy! I don't think either gender isgetting off easy onthis." Karl laughed out, remembering the one male victim they reported.

"Yeah, well... It was just one guy, there have been twice as many women killed." She responded to Karl. If there was one thing Alyssa hated more than being late to a crime scene, it was losing a fight.

"Whatever. Look, it's almost eleven. I think I'll head home for some rest, if you don't mind." Karl gave in, admitting defeat as he yawned and moved to the driver's door of the van to go home. "Wanna lift?"

Alyssa rolled her eyes as she got into the passenger's seat. He was her only ride and she'd be dipped if she was walking all the way back to the news station. On the way to the office Alyssa didn't say a thing, she simply kept her eyes closed and sat the way she always would, legs and arms crossed. When she reached her building, she opened the back door and took the tape out of Karl's camera to hand in so it could be played on the next airing news show.

"See ya tomorrow, Alyssa." Karl said as she walked up the steps to the station's front doors.

"Later, Karl" She yelled back once reaching the top.

She passed the guards and walked through the main lobby up to the elevator. Once she entered she pushed the third floor button. When the doors opened again news people and backstage hands buzzed around the entire office. She wordlessly made her way through the crowd and about halfway between the elevator and her personal office room she handed the tape to a man and told him that it was the update on 'The Bi-sexual Serial Rapist.' The man took the tape and as Alyssa was walking away she was stopped by a tall, dark haired man that was also a reporter.

"Well, anything good?" He said as he pulled his hair back into a small ponytail.

"Same old stuff." Alyssa said as she watched the man put his hair up.

"Nothing new, huh? Well, it's just an off day, it's only bound to get better." The man said as his hands finished with his hair and moved to his hips.

"Ben, I like you. You are the only reporter who isn't jealous of me." Alyssa told the other reporter as she copied him by putting her hands on her hips.

"There is nothing to be jealous about, you got there first, there is no need for me to resent you. Anyway, I'm heading on home, gotta wake up early tomorrow." Ben said as he waved goodbye to Alyssa.

Alyssa nodded her head and then went to her office to write for her article in the paper regarding the same case she had just returned from. For the next two hours Alyssa sat at her computer and typed out the story again adding in the new information of the latest finding.

"And done," Alyssa sighed as she saved her work and rubbed her head, she could feel a headache coming on. As soon as the file was saved she turned off her computer and the light to her office and left for the night. She was the last to leave and if she was of the easily scared type she would of found the empty news room eerie, but being the cold, nearly emotionless person she was, she just looked across the room on her way to the elevator, feeling absolutely nothing.

She pushed the B1 button in the elevator to take her to the parking garage where she could get in her car and speed home for a shower. Even late at night she couldn't stand to be without her daily cleaning. As she made her way through the dark parking lot she pulled her keys out of her pocket and giggled to herself. Before this big story and her promotion that followed, she would have to park on the lower levels, but now she had a special spot reserved just for her so she didn't have to walk as far. That made no difference, however.

The clicking of her heels echoed through the garage as did the sound of someone else's shoes hitting the ground somewhere else in the dark lot. She stopped for a moment to try and sum up the general direction of the stranger, but the origin of the sounds was impossible to tell due to the echos bouncing all around her. She walked faster, but then calmed down when she was sure no one would dare want to pick a fight with her.

She made it to her car and as she placed the key in the door to unlock it she saw a dark figure reflected in the door's window. She turned around and as she was about to question the persons intentions she felt a fist come across her face, throwing her hard to the ground. She went black for a second, but when she came to she felt hands running over her body, feeling certain areas more than others.

"Hands off, Dick-wad!" Alyssa shouted at the unknown person that was fondling her as she pushed his hands away from her. As she was about to get up and give the man a royal beating he held her down by her shoulders and moved his face close to her own. Though it was dark she could tell he had a mask on that covered all but his eyes and mouth. "Get the Hell off!" Alyssa said as she struggled to get free. She thrashed and kicked her legs as the man held her harder to the cement. When she wouldn't settle down the man grew tired and lifted her up by her arms before slamming her back down, causing her to hit her head with near concussion force.

She was dizzy and for the moment couldn't move at all due the pain coming from the back of her head. When she opened her eyes everything was blurry and though she couldn't tell for sure, she thought she felt the man undoing her suit shirt. "Please, stop..." Alyssa attempted to say as the man moved from button to button, until her black undershirt was exposed.

"What was that, Miss. Ashcroft? Did I hear stop?" The man said as he momentarily stopped stripping the woman beneath him. "I thought you liked adventure, where'd that spirit go?"

"No... Please, just stop." Alyssa said, angry that she was reduced to begging but still to woozy to defend herself.

"Please? That isn't anything like you. I tell you what..." The man said as he pulled a knife out of his back pocket. "After I finish what I came here to do, you're going to come with me in your car and well continue to have fun in a more, less-secluded location."

"You're the... rapist!" Alyssa said as she slightly squirmed underneath the man that sat on top of her, now understanding the horror his other victims had to go through.

"Yes, little reporter. My legacy will only become more renown with the rape and murder of Alyssa Ashcroft." The man laughed evilly as he began to cut Alyssa's shirt. "Now, say goodnight." He said as he punched Alyssa one more time in the face, knocking her out.

When she began towake up she could tell that she was moving before she even opened her eyes. As soon as she opened her eyes she saw that she was in her car next to the man with the ski mask. She tried to move but felt that her hands were tied behind her seat and that her ankles were also tied together. When she gave up on trying to get free she looked at the clock in the car and saw that it was 6:28 A.M. Her sight was still hazy so she couldn't tell were in the city they were, but she could tell they were still in the city due to the constant stops that were made at every red light or stop sign. "Damn, why did Ihave to get tints for my windows?" Alyssa said to herself as she wished someone could see her through the window.

"Waking up are we?" The man said as he turned on a corner and went a little bit farther down before stopping the car and getting out. He shut the door and walked over the passenger door and opened it, he then stood looking at the woman that sat broken both physically and spiritually in front of him. While she was out he continued to bead her and by the looks of her face her nose must have been broken during his brutal rampage on her body. He pulled out the same knife he used to cut her shirt and cut the ropes on her hands so he could pull her out of the car.

Alyssa growled in herself as her anger reached its peak when the man threw her over his shoulder and carried her away from the car. Her vision was beginning to come back as he carried her and she could see that the sun was in its early stages of rising, still leaving the city shrouded in darkness. He still had nature to his advantage, he was going to get away with it, unless she fought the pain and saved herself. She began to think of a strategy to escape when he propped her against a wall in an alley.

"Well, here is my second favorite part. Time for you to die." The man said after standing her against the alley wall. "Now, I'm going to cut the ropes on your ankles and if you want to live, you'll struggle, I like to kill my prey with a fight." He said cutting the ropes.

"..." Alyssa felt it, her strength coming back. She was still playing like she was defenseless as he worked at the ropes, but when they were off, he was dead. She took self-defense classes before becoming a reporter and was a pretty good fighter when it was needed, like it was now.

"There." The man said as he finished cutting the ropes away fro Alyssa's ankles and before he could get back up she swung her foot and kicked the man in the face, forcing him to drop his knife and fall back in sudden pain. She didn't give him a second to breathe, she continued to kick the man as he lay on the ground, feeling what he had done to her. As she was delivering another kick he grabbed her foot and swung his other arm around to knock Alyssa off her feet. She fell hard to the ground and was still for a second at the man's quick attack, as he got up to finish her she saw the knife he dropped a few feet to her right. He got over her and as he picked his leg up and began to bring it down on her stomach she rolled and picked up the knife. She got up and stood, ready for him to charge, and when he did, she waited until he was close enough and as soon as he was, she swung the knife, not knowing where it would cut.

The man still didn't stop, he charged into her, throwing her into the wall behind her, but as she looked back at him he was holding his throat, and then she saw it, blood slipping between his fingers, and as he began to gurgle words from his mouth he fell to the ground and slowly bled to death. Alyssa looked at the man and then at the knife I her hand. She couldn't believe she won, couldn't believe she killed him. When she felt the sun shine on her face she walked over to her car and fished her cell phone out of the backseat that she always had hidden, just in case.

The ambulance and police arrived soon after she called and not only was Alyssa known for being the first to report The Serial Rapist story, but she was also the only reporter to be attacked by her own story and survive by killing the rapist. She was famous, but took a break from being a news reporter for a few months as all her wounds healed.

After her experience and seeing that she could be stronger, Alyssa began working out more and picked up something else to carry around with her, a stun gun. Now she'd be ready for anything. Her life was only just beginning, and she wasn't about to forget that some scoops are better left to others.

Alyssa clicked save and then shut her laptop as she picked up her second beer from the table that she was sitting at in J's Bar. She got there a few hours ago and sat there the whole time writing chapters for her life's story. She put the bottle down and rubbed her head, she felt yet another headache coming on, the kind of headache she had before being attacked by the rapist, a weak one, yet one that seemed to warn her of something. She shook it off as she watched the people in the bar go on with their normal lives. She smiled and looked back to her closed laptop and laughed to herself, "Normal..."

End of Chapter...

Good? Review and tell me. Next I'll do Kevin since he seems to be popular, but whoever you'd like me to do after him tell me, so I can begin to think of a story for them. Thanks all for reading. :)


	4. Kevin

Well, here is the Kevin chapter, sorry it took me so long to update, my friend kidnaped my laptop and not only that, but Kevin was hard for me to think up a story for. O well, it's here now, so have a ball.

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Kevin

_Maybe today will be the day when the world decides to give me a break, decides to give me what I want..._

Kevin Ryman heard an alarm go off as he got out of bed and rubbed the drunken sleep out of his eyes. Last night was brutal for the young cop. He had his second try to get into S.T.A.R.S. yesterday and you never would have guessed it by the way he walked around the R.P.D., though he had already failed once to get into S.T.A.R.S. he was sure he'd get it today, and with the endless confidence in his system, he made sure everyone in the office knew he was about to pass the test and get promoted.

"Ryman, why not give it a rest, huh?" Asked one of Kevin's fellow officers, Rita Wilow.

"Ahhh, come on Rita, show some love." Kevin said as he moved past a few officers to get to the blonde woman that spoke earlier.

"Names Wilow, Ryman, and I believe you're giving yourself all the love you need." Rita said as she leaned against a desk that stood behind her, cluttered with papers.

"Why can't I call you Rita? You know you like it." Kevin said as he moved up to Rita who showed signs of irritation with Kevin's close encounter.

"Because, we're not on a first name basis, Ryman, and if you don't mind, I'm sure I've got work to do." Rita said as she pushed Kevin's invading body away from her.

"Aww, come on!" Kevin cried as he watched her backside when she walked away. She was his type, not only because she had some bite to her, but also because she was blonde, a trait he could never say no to.

Kevin sighed off his lust as he walked around a group of tables until he reached his and sat down. He turned on his computer and opened his email to look at his letter from S.T.A.R.S., saying there were going to give him a second chance at becoming an agent. Out of everyone in the building, next to Rita, he had one of the best shots, being able to hit a target hundreds of feet away, but this was his downfall. He knew he was good, and wanted others to know it, so he would get cocky, that, in fact, was what made him fail his first exam.

As he looked at his watch he saw it was almost 3 P.M., only minutes before he'd have his exam. As soon as the S.T.A.R.S. agents walked through those two huge doors leading to the office and took him away for his test, which included not only questions both verbally and on paper, but also target practice and simulated scenarios of possible crimes and missions. All together would last three or more hours and Kevin was ready for every minute.

Kevin got up from his desk and left the office to go behind the scenes of the R.P.D. building to the break room where his locker was. He walked out of the office and through the door into the carpeted hallway just next to it. When the door closed behind him he could still hear the laughs of the other officers and the many rings of all the telephones on the tables going off, both of business and personal matters. He didn't pay much attention to the noises as they had become an ordinary thing in his life, and just walked down the out-of-place hallway that still showed what the building used to be, an art museum.

Muggins

He made his way to the door to the break room, and as he gripped the doorknob he shivered. Behind his were the stairs that went down into the basement of the building, which not only housed the cell blocks and the parking garage, but also the autopsy room, a place he never liked to go. The thought of having frozen bodies tucked away in the walls never appealed to him very much, and the people who worked down in that room Kevin never liked to be around, he'd always smell the worst things on them, wether it had to do with the dead or not, they never smelled short of rotten vomit.

He shook off the feeling and entered the room, where he thought he was alone. As he walked up to his locker and opened the door, revealing his .45 handgun, and a magazine that went with it, a man got up from one of the two bunk beds and slowly made his way over to where Kevin was. When Kevin looked up to see what was making the slightly eerie shuffling sounds he saw an officer come from behind the corner.

"Holy... shit, man you scared the piss outta me!" Kevin said as he moved his gun away from his fiends face.

"Sorry, didn't know I would." The man said as he opened a locker next to Kevin's, which was labeled 'Jean.'

"Jean, how long you've been crashed in here?" Kevin said as he pointed to his watch with a gloved hand.

"Think since Twelve, maybe later. I've been so tired." Jean said as he yawned into his hand.

"Marvin been workin' you like a dog?" Kevin laughed as he placed his gun in its holster and the magazine in his pocket, next to his apartment keys.

"No, you haven't noticed it? Crime seems to be everywhere. I almost never get a break anymore." Jean said as he closed his locker and looked at Kevin who closed his at the same time.

"I have noticed that, just yesterday I had double my normal calls for various things like mugging cases and a few wrecks." Kevin uttered as he thought about the recent workload problems. "But besides that, I'm about to go for my S.T.A.R.S. exam." Kevin brightened up as he smiled over to Jean.

"I remember you talking about that yesterday, good luck, and don't blow it this time. A gun isn't something to be cocky over, not when it can kill innocent people, or when it can kill period." Jean preached to the younger cop like a father or an older brother would. "I don't want to see you all depressed over failing again, am I clear on that?"

"Yeah, you got it! I promise I'll come back a better man!" Kevin happily spoke out as he moved past Jean and out of the break room, giving a wave to the other officer as he left the room.

Kevin laughed as he thought about Jean's words, he sounded like his father for a moment there, but as soon as he returned to the office and saw two S.T.A.R.S. agents talking to Marvin Bradette, the chief of the police department, he knew now was his time.

"And here Officer Ryman is now, right on time." Marvin said as he looked behind the two agents shoulders at the man coming up behind them.

"That's me! Well, we going or what?" Kevin anxiously said as the agents turned around and looked at the man they had to once fail for the same exam.

"Officer Ryman, glad to see you again" The female agent said as she moved a hand up to shake hands with the police officer. "I hope you get it this time, I'd hate to have to fail you again, you know." She said as she pulled her hand back and moved her short, brown hair out of her face, which was already slightly kept in place by a small, blue cap on her head.

"I'd hate for you to do that too, Miss. Valentine." Kevin happily said as he looked at the woman who stood with a hand on her hip.

"You know, Ryman, a group of agents are scheduled to check out some place in the Raccoon Forest where a couple of people are believed to have disappeared." The woman said as she looked Kevin in the eyes. "If you pass you could swing up there to take a look with them, shouldn't be much, but it is in just a few more days, three I believe, and you could get some early practice in."

"Are you going too?" Kevin uttered as he scratched his stubbled chin.

"No, I do bigger things." Agent Valentine said, shifting her weight to one leg.

"Well, I look forward to joining them." Kevin announced as he gave the signal that he was ready to leave by moving forward a few inches.

The agents led Kevin out to their patrol car and drove him over to their separate office for the exam. Everything was going perfectly, he answered every question perfectly on bot the verbal and written parts of the test, and as he did the target practice at different ranges, he thought he'd impress them by shooting each target in the head, right between where the eyes would be. They sounded like they liked what they were seeing as they checked things down on Kevin's grade sheet. After the target practice Kevin moved on to the scenario portion.

He felt wonderful going through the fixed path set with pop-up, cardboard-cutouts of various criminal, both with and without guns, and civilians. Kevin never shot a civilian, but each criminal he did. When he finished the last portion of the exam he looked at the two agents and smiled as he knew he passed with flying colors.

"Well?" Kevin said as he sat down in Agent Valentine's office.

"I wasn't surprised to see you do great on the questions, but the target practice was outstanding, even almost out of clear view you were able to hit the same spot on the target, a fatal, but effective talent." She broke in-between her diagnosis of Kevin's results. "But... When it came to the scenario portion, you did very well, you didn't hit any civilians, but the thing is, you hit each of the criminals directly in the head, like in the target practice, even the ones without weapons."

"So, it's not like I'd really do that on the street!" Kevin laughed out, trying to save his grade.

"Well, we need an agent who'd never consider hitting anyone in the head unless absolutely mandatory. You might have gotten away with it if you only hit the criminals with guns, but you hit the unarmed ones and the ones with melee weapons as well. Totally reckless." She uttered not one looking at Kevin as she placed x's on certain parts of Kevin's grade sheet. "I'm sorry, but you can't pass with behavior like that, maybe next time." The woman said as she handed over Kevin's failed report.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Kevin angrily screamed as he looked at his grade.

They drove him back to the R.P.D. building and the rest of the day Kevin didn't say a thing to anyone. Rita would laugh at him whenever she'd catch him alone and Jean shook his head, knowing that Kevin didn't listen to his advice, when he first caught Kevin moping the office.

That night, when Kevin got off, he was driving over to J's Bar, his favorite place, to get drunk when he stopped at a red light. He looked out of the driver's window right when a teenager, no older than fourteen, pulled out a gun and shot another kid who was walking away from him. Raccoon may have been a small city in the middle of a huge forest, but crimes and murder happened here like they would in New York or Chicago. Kevin jumped out of his car and yelled at the boy holding the gun. As the kid ran off, seeing the cop come at him, Kevin ran to the fallen child and looked him over.

He wasn't there, he was gone, dead. Kevin closed his eyes as a couple of people from across and down the street ran up to the child's body. Kevin got up and saw the teenager with the gun still running, he could still get him.

"Someone call an ambulance," Kevin said, looking at a young Asian woman who shuffled through her purse, getting her phone.

When he saw he pull it out he began to run after the boy. Soon he gave up on the thought catching him, but then pulled out his gun and aimed. He got a good view and pulled the gun back then back to the running child. He had it aimed at his head for a moment and then remembered his failed exam. He shook off the anger and then moved the gun slightly down and fired. He got him, on the right calf. The kid fell hard and Kevin sprinted for him in a mad rush. As soon as he was upon him, he kicked the gun away and put his own up and handcuffed the youth, then waited for the ambulance to arrive.

He knew he'd have some paper work to fill out the next day, but as soon as the ambulance arrived, he was off for a couple of drinks. When he got to the bar he talked to Will, the bartender, about what had just happened. He gave him a free drink and then Cindy, the waitress who was listening to the conversation, took some of Kevin's empty bottles and started to talk.

"I hate how children can get a hold of guns, I know I can't stand them." She said, piling his bottles on her tray.

Will invited Kevin up to the staff room after closing and they threw some darts for awhile. Then Kevin drove, drunk and totally over the limit, to his apartment building, not two blocks away.

He woke up the next day with a hangover the size of Jupiter. He went through the day in a blind haze, and every other day the same way for a whole week. Then, on a Friday night after getting off work, he made his way back over to his nightly spot, J's Bar. He, for some reason, felt he was gonna be in for a long night, and as he took a seat at the bar he noticed two others besides himself, Will, and Cindy. Some man in a business suit and a woman on the other side of the room in a red suit, who he believed to be Alyssa Ashcroft. Only knowing she was a reporter and nothing else he shook off the weird vibes the people were giving and started to drink. As he chugged the first bottle down he thought about how much he'd like to go home and fall asleep, but for some reason, though he was so close to his building, going home and getting some rest seemed like a far off possibility...

End of Chapter...

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Woot! 4 down, 4 to go. I'm gonna do David next due to popular demand. Hope u all liked it and review please, I'm very happy to read them. Well, until next time. Cya 


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